“Never underestimate the Parliament,” its president, Roberta Metsola, stated in a press briefing post-vote, emphasizing that lawmakers will not merely “rubber-stamp” the budget proposed by the capitals.
Pro-EU parties in Parliament — the conservative European People’s Party (EPP), the Socialists & Democrats, the centrist Renew group, and the Greens — all supported the push for increased EU funding to tackle issues like defense and competitiveness.
“We believe we cannot do more with less; that is a myth,” stated Siegfried Mureșan, an EPP budget negotiator. “Clearly, the majority of members can only vote in favor if our demands are incorporated into the budget sufficiently.”
However, these pleas have been ignored by fiscally conservative countries such as Germany and the Netherlands, which are advocating for a reduced budget.
“It’s disappointing to see the European Parliament addressing the 21st century’s geopolitical and geoeconomic challenges with budget priorities steeped in the last century,” commented an EU diplomat who, like others cited in this article, was granted anonymity to speak openly.
Days prior to the Parliament vote, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz — from a country contributing one-quarter of the EU’s total budget — dismissed the Commission’s July proposal as overly large.
Leave a Reply